Two-piece wire spring socket



Jan. 4, 1955 P. E. FENTON 2,698,473

TWO-PIECE WIRE SPRING SOCKET Filed Sept. 9, 1952 Eng. 4

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lNVENTOR Paul E.F'enion TTORNEY United States Patent TWO-PIECE WIRE SPRING SOCKET Paul E. Fenton, Middlebury, C0nn., assi'mor to Scovill Manufacturing Company, Waterbury, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application September 9, 1952, Serial No. 308,650

4 Claims. (Cl. 24-218) This invention relates to snap fastener sockets employing a spring wire element of the parallel jaw type.

Snap fastener sockets employing spring wire elements of the parallel jaw type are very desirable for many purposes because of the very reliable and uniformly easy snapping action. Heretofore, fasteners of this type have been attached usually by stitching. Other attempts at attaching such sockets have involved additional parts or other complications.

According to this invention the attachment involves the use of a prong ring but the socket housing and prong ring instead of being round are of polygonal contour, preferably square. Since this enables alignment of the corners of the prong ring with the corners of the housing it is necessary to provide only small deflector portions, one for each prong. By making the sockets and prong rings generally square it is easy to provide an attaching machine which will properly align the prongs with the deflector portions or anvil sections. By locating these prongs of the prong ring and deflector surfaces of the socket housing at their respective corners the connecting portions of the spring member may occupy the housing all the way up to the sides of the square. This has the advantage of providing maximum room for the spring for any given size fastener.

Ari important object of the invention is to provide an improved spring construction and arrangement so that where the spring extends across the corners of the socket it passes on the inside of the deflector portions so that the prongs will not interfere with the spring in the clinching operation.

Other objects and advantages of invention will be evident from the description which follows from the drawing, in which,

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of one of the socket members, per se, embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view through the socket member showing it assembled to a support as by a prong ring attaching member, the section of the socket, per so, taken along the line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of a modified form of socket differing from the first form in showing a difierent type of spring and having individual deflector sections sheared and formed out of the base of the socket.

Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view of the Fig. 3 form, the view taken along the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the attaching prong ring used for attaching the above socket constructions to a fabric support.

Referring to the drawing, the numeral designates a socket housing generally square shaped having straight sides 11 with beveled corners 12. The housing 10 is preferably formed of sheet metal and provides a substantially flat base 13 having an integral centrally formed hollow hub 14 terminating at its upper end in a domed section 15. The straight sides 11 and the beveled corners 12 are curled upwardly and inwardly to produce a circumferential clincher rim 16, see Fig. 2.

In assembling the socket housing 10 to a piece of fabric 17 or similar supporting material an attaching prong ring 18 is provided having a ring section 19 of the same general shape as the socket housing, and a single prong 20 is formed upwardly from each of the inner edges of the beveled corners 21.

In order to upset or roll the prongs 20 in the operation of assembling the prong ring 18 and the socket housing 2,598,473 Patented Jan. 4, 1955 ice 10 to the support member 17, individual anvil sections 22 are formed upwardly out of the base 13 adjacent the beveled corners 12 of the housing 10. Each anvil section 22 is formed with a straight inner wall 23 more or less perpendicular to the base, and an inclined wall 24 leading into the clincher rim 16 at the beveled corners 12.

The form of spring member 25 employed in the above socket is best shown in Fig. 1 and consists of a pair of diverging long bars 26 joined to short bars 27 at an angle of about It is to be noted that the long bars 26 lie contiguous to the straight walls 23 of two of the anvil sections 22 while the short bars 27 lie contiguous with the sides 11 of the socket housing within the confines ot' the clincher rim 16. The two end short bars 27 are joined to S-shaped portions 28 that terminate in straight stud-engaging parallel jaws 29. The parallel jaws 29 are normally held under tension within cutouts or slots 30 skived in opposite walls of the hollow hub 14 adjacent the base 13.

In assembling the socket housing 10 to the support fabric 17 with the prong ring 18, it is necessary to orient both the socket housing and prong ring in definite relationship at a setting station so that the prongs 20 of the prong ring 18 will be in aligned relationship with the anvil sections 22 of said housing. This can be readily accomplished in the conventional setting machines by hoppering the housing and prong ring and guiding them in oriented relationship through guide chutes to the setting station. When properly oriented the prong ring will be forced against the socket housing causing the prongs to pierce through the fabric 17 and engage against the inclined walls 24 of the anvil sections 22 to be directed outwardly and curled up or otherwise upset within the clincher rim 16 of said housing 10 thus firmly locking the parts together.

In the modified form shown in Figs. 3 and 4 the socket housing 10a differs from the first form in that portions of the anvil sections 22a are sheared up out of the base 13a thereof and the spring member 25a is so formed as to bear against the sheared edges 23a of said anvil sections. By shearing and forming the anvil sections a higher and longer inclined wall 24a is provided for the purpose of directing the prongs of the attaching ring into the clinching rim 16a. In this modification the spring member 25a is formed to provide three arcuate bars 26a joined by loops 27a, the end loops of which support the parallel arms or jaws 29a. The arcuate bars are positioned to bear against the sheared edges 23a of the anvil sections while the loops 27a in part extend underneath the clincher rim 16a for the purpose of holding the spring member assembled with the socket housing 10a.

As a result of my invention it will thus be seen that a spring member is so constructed and arranged in the socket that portions may extend all the way to the sides of the sockets, but that where the spring crosses the corners it passes on the inside of the anvil or deflector portions, thus the prongs will never jam against the spring member and interfere with proper clinching or damage the spring itself.

While I have herein described and upon the drawing shown several embodiments of the invention, it is to be noted that the invention is not limited thereto but may comprehend other constructions and arrangements without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. A snap fastener socket member comprising a sheet metal housing of generally polygonal shape, said housing having a base portion, an upwardly projecting central hub and a peripheral clincher rim, individual anvil sections formed up out of the base portion and positioned in the corners of said housing, said anvil sections each having an inclined surface leading into said clincher rim, said hub having a pair of opposed slots, a wine spring member having parallel stud-gripping jaws freely movable within said hub slots and having other portions making a yielding connection for said arms, including portionswhich bear against and are confined by the clincher rim only at the sides of the housing intermediate the corners of said housing and portions which extend across the cornersof the housing to the inside of said anvil sections anclfwhich connect those portions which are confined by the clincher rim, and a prong ring of the same general shape as said housing having prongs arranged to align with said anvil sections and adapted to pierce through a support fabric and be directed outwardly by said anvil sections and upset within said clincher rim entirely free of said wire spring ingmber for permanently anchoring said housing to said a rrc.

2. A snap fastener socket member comprising a sheet metal housing of square shape with beveled corners, said housing having a base portion, an upwardly projecting central hub and a peripheral clincher rim, individual anvil sections formed up out of the base portion and positioned adjacent the beveled corners, said anvil sections each having an inclined surface leading into said clincher rim, said hub having a pair of opposed slots, a wire spring member having angularly connected long and short bars, S-shaped spring sections connected to two of the short bars, parallel stud-gripping jaws connected to said S- shaped sections and freely movable within said hub slots, the short bars of said spring member positioned in the clincher rim as the straight sides of the housing intermediate the corners thereof and the long bars which extend across corners of the housing being positioned inwardly of said anvil sections, and a prong ring of the same general shape as said housing having prongs arranged to align with said anvil sections and adapted to pierce through a support fabric and be directed outwardly by said anvil sections and upset within said clincher rim entirely free of said wire spring member for permanently anchoring said housing to said fabric.

3. A snap fastener socket member comprising a sheet metal housing of square shape with beveled corners, said housing having a base portion, an upwardly projecting central hub and a peripheral clincher rim, individual anvil sections formed up out of the base portion and positioned adjacent the beveled corners, said anvil sections each having an inclined surface leading into said clincher rim, said hub having a pair of opposed slots, a wire spring member consisting of a series of loops connected by inwardly arcuate bars arranged substantially in the shape of a square, parallel stud-engaging jaws connected to the two end loops and freely movable within said hub slots, the loops of said spring member positioned in the clincher rim at the straight sides of the housing intermediate the corners thereof and the arcuate bars which extend across corners of the housing being positioned inwardly of said anvil sections, and a prong ring of the same general shape as'said housing having prongs arranged to align with said anvil sections and adapted to pierce through a support fabric and be directed outwardly by said anvil sections and upset within said clincher rim entirely free of said wire spring member for permanently anchoring said housing to said fabric.

4. A snap fastener socket member as defined by claim 3 wherein the anvil sections are sheared and formed upwardly out of the base portion to provide relatively long inclined surfaces and the arcuate bars of said spring member bear against the sheared edges of said anvil sections.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

